Dental appliance



J. L. YOUNG.

DENIAL APPLIANCE. APPLICATION man JULY 13.1920.

1,378,306. Patented"- y 17, 1921.

UNITED STATES JAcoB LOWE ours, or NEW ROCHELLE, new YORK;

DENTAL APPLIANCE.

Application filed July 13, 1920'. Serial recesses.

To all whom it may concern:

vented certain new and useful Improve-v Be it known that. I, JAooB LOWEYouNe, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New Rochelle, inthe county of West' chester and State of New York, have infollowingis aspecification. This invention 'relatesto improvements indentalappllances for use in shaping a ments in Dental Appliances, ofwhich the strip of band-forming metal about a-tooth,

or for contracting a loop of flexible material abouta tooth to measurethe tooth for a' band;

The invention has for its general object to provide a simple andefiicient appliance of the class above setforth which may be readilyadapted for use in contracting a loop of material about any tooth ineither the upper or lowerdental arch without difficulty and with littleor no discomfort to the person whose teeth are to be fitted with 7bands. 1

Another object' of the invention is to provide an appliance of the classset forth which may be conveniently held and manipulated with one handin placing the looped necting the third lever member with the pivot vpinof the members of the pliers, and to provide simple means for lockingthe third member'on either side of the pliers to prevent accidentaldisconnection of the pliers and loop-contractlng member while permittingfree pivotal movement of said member about the pivot pin of the pliers.

In the drawings I Figure 1 is a plan view of the appliance holding alooped strip of band-forming 7 metal in position for use;

' '2 2 i 'an enlarged fragmentary side ele vation of the appliance;

Fig. '3 isfa plan View ofthe detachable and reversible loop-contractingmember;

. Fig. 4. is a sideelevation of the loop-con- Specification of LettersPatent.

to provide means for pivotally con tracting member, showing the innerside thereof;

Fig; 5a

Fig. 6 a detail sectional View on the line: I

VI VI of Fig. 2;

Flg. 7 anenlargedtransverse section the line VII--VII of Fig; 1'; and i'8 a" fragmentary plan view of a" modlfied formof separably interlockedpiv PATE T oFFIcE.

Patented May"-1"7, 1921'.

detail sectionaloview on the'linei otal connection between the loopholdi'ng' and loop-contracting members.

Referring to V. the ,drawlngs by I numerals, l and 2 designate thecrossedpivotallyl 0011- nected lever members ofthefloop-holding' meansor pliers'and 3, designates thethird lever'melnber 'or reversibleloop-contracting device. The member ,1 is providedwiththe centrallyslotted flattened intermediatepori t on 1 through which the reduced flatpor-, t1on2 of member 2 extends, as isusual in crossed-handle dentalpliers; The. crossed members are pivotally" connected-f at their 'polntof intersection by a pivot pin 4 which extends loosely through anaperturein fiat. V

by adriving fit in apertures inthe slotted flat portion 1 ofmember 1,.asshown'more' clearly in Fig. 7, Bythisfconstruction the. pin l is fixed"in member 1 against rotary,-

I portion 2 of member 2 andv is tightly jheld 7 andendwi se'movem'entwhile member 2 -"is free to swing about the pm as a pivot.

"The'pin l. hasreduced cylindrical end portions which proj ectbeyond theouter side faces of the part l 'of member 1 and the loop-contractingmember 3" is provided in--v termediate its ends, at opposite sidesthereof l with apair of ears orflugs 5v adapted to embrace/the.flattened. portion 1 of memher 1, saidpivotlugs or ears being slotted at6 to receive the reduced; end portions of the Pivot P n Thehandleportion pr member 3 is preferably of rounded channel form as shown andisadapted to partly embrace the'handle portion of member 1-or 2 v whenpressed toward the'same to permit a i p maximum pivotal movement of themem her 3. e V

The gripping ends of members 1 andf2 are provided with jaws llyand 12respec-' tively extending laterally, and preferably which when inengagement-lie; 1n a plane parallel with the pivotal airisflof' the members 1-and'2. The jaw ll'is providedwith slightly forwardly,thefgripping faces of a longitudinal rib 13' and jaw 12 with acomplementary groove or channel 14' in order that the ends of a doubledstrip of material may be tightly gripped between the jaws with thelooped strip extending longitudinally of the appliance. The mem her 3 atthe opposite side of its pivot from the handle portion thereof isprovided with a relatively flat portion 7 provided with two arms orprojectionsB extending laterally and forwardly from the side edgesrofthe forward end thereof at the same angle so that one or the other ofthese arms 8 will lie alongside the jaws 11 and 12 when the reversiblemember 3 is connected with the pliers at either side thereof. 'The arms8 are provided with slots 9 extending inwardly., from .the' outer endsof'the arms,

' preferably in aline'mentf with the forward the pliers to swing aboutpivot pin 4, which means comprises a U-shaped locking slide 15 providedwith slots 16 extending transversely of the slots 6 inears 5 of member 3and adapted to receive the reduced outer endsofthe pivot pint, as shownin Fig. 1,

when the slide is moved forwardly on memher 3 from theposition shown inFigs. 3 to 5. The slide 15 is held to member 3 by a headed stud or thelike, 17 the reduced shank of which extends through a slot .18 in memher3. In Fig; 8 a modified form ofsepara- I receive the ends of pivot pin4cand the rearbly interlocked pivotal connection is shown. In thisconstruction the pivot ears 5 of member 3 are provided with inclinedslots 19 to edges of the lugs are curved on'an are about the center ofpin 4 to form hook-like lock lugsbtherear arcuate edges of which engagepins or projections 20 on opposite sides of part 1 when the member 3isin place toprevent rearward movement of said mem' her while theforward edges of said lugs prevent forward andlateral movement of themember. It will be seen, therefore, that member 3 canbe connected witheither side of the pliers by passing lugs 5 simultaneously inwardly andforwardly between pin 4 and projections 20 and may be disconnected onlyby an outward and rearward pull.

i In both constructions member 3 is provided with a flat spring 10 thefree end of which loosely engages the handle portion of either member 1or 2, according to the side of the pliers uponwhichmember '3 is mounted,

- and normally "presses one of the arms 8 against the adjacent jaw ofthe pliers.

The operation is as follows: A thin strip of band-forming metal, or

other flexible material, is doubled to-form a loop and the ends ofthe'doubled strip are then passed between the jaws 11 and12 with theloop at the forward side of the jaws. The handles of the pliers are thenpressed toward each other to cause'the jaws 11 and 12 to tightly gripthe doubledstrip and then locked by swinging a bail 21 pivoted to handle2 ,over the notched end of handle 1 of the, pliers. The member 3detached from the pliers is'then placed sub? stantially. at right anglesto the pliers, ati

the'proper side oft-he pliers according to the location oflthe tooth,and the; loo V strip is passed into theslot 9 of the arm 8 which extendsparallel with theplier jaws} The handle end ofmember 3 is.then'connected with pivot pin 4:111 either of the two ways abovedescribed, ,or .otherwise pivotally connected with the pliers to swingin .a. plane parallel with the plane of the pliers.

The complete appliance is then held in one hand while the other hand isused to assist in passing the loop about a tooth; f It will be obviousthat by contracting the fingers of the hand holding the appliance topress the handle end of member inwardly against the tension of spring 10the band 22 may be tightly contracted on the toot-h.

The outer sides of the arms 8 which press against the teeth mavbe shapedto conform to the contour of the tooth, and a series of members 3 may beprovided each having the, outer sides of its arms .8 of proper contourfor use with teethof a particular class. vVhat I claim is: I 5

1; A dental appliance comprising,lthrec" lever members pivotallyconnected to swing about a common axis, each oftworof said membershaving a grippingjaw atone end thereof and the other-member beingprovlded wlth' a slot open at one end, said slot being located adjacentthe jaws on the other members when the three adjacent ends of, themembers are in close juxtaposition.

2. A dental appliance comprising three lever members pivotally connectedto swing about a common axis, each of two of,.sa-id members beingprovided with a. gripping jaw and the third member being provided with arestricted opening-adjacent the jaws on the other members, and meansfor, locking the two jaw-carrying members against pivotal movementrelatively to each other with the aws in clamping relation.

3. A dental appliance comprising three lever members pivotally connectedto swing about a common axis, each vof two of said members bemg providedwith a gripping jaw and the third member being tprovided wlth arestrlcted opening adjacentthe jaws on the other members,,=means for'ilocking the two jaw-carrying members against pivotal movementrelatively to each other with the jaws in clamping relation, and

resilient means normally forcing the apertured portion of the thirdmember toward the jaw-carrying ends of the other members.

l. A dental appliance comprising a pair of plier members having jaws atone end and handle portions, a loop-contractin member having a slotadjacent one end an a handle portion, means connecting the three membersto swing relatively to each other about a common axis, means for lookingthe handle portions of the plier members against relative movement, andresilient means for normally forcing thehandle portion of theloop-contracting member away from the locked handle portions of thepliers.

v 5. A dental appliance comprising a pair of pliers having memberspivotally connected together intermediate their ends and eachprovidedwith a handleportion at one side of its pivot and a gripping jawat the other side of its pivot, and a loop-contractin member pivotallysupported on the pliers to swing about an axis extending transversely ofthe plane of movement of the members of the pliers, said member having ahandle portion at one side of its pivot adjacent the handle portion ofone member of the pliers and a restricted opening at the other side ofits pivot.

6. A dental appliance comprising a pair of pliers having lever membersprovided with gripping jaws at one end, a reversible loop-contractinglever member provided with an opening adjacent one end, and means fordetachably and pivotally connecting said loop-contracting member withthe pliers intermediate its ends to swing about an axis extendingtransversely of the plane of pivotal movement of the'lever members ofthe pliers with the apertured end of the loop-contracting member locatedat one side or the other of the gripping jaws.

7. The combination of a pair of lever members having gripping jaws, apivot pin connecting the lever members having proj ecting end portions,and a third lever member having parallel ears fulcrumed on theprojecting endportions of said pivot pin and provided with a restrictedopening at one side of its pivot adjacent the jaws on the other members.1

8. Adental appliance comprising a pair of pliers the members of whichare provided with laterally offset jaws having gripping faces extendinglongitudinally of the pivotal axis of the members, a reversible loop- Icontracting member having two restricted ally and detachably connectingthe loopcontracting member with the pliers to swing 1n a plane parallelwith the members of the pliers with said loop-contracting memberextending longitudinally of the pliers alongside either edge of thepliers] 9. A dental appliance comprising a-pair V of pliers the membersof which are provided with laterally offset jaws having gripping facesextending longitudinally of the pivotal axis of the members, areversible loopcontracting member adapted tovbe connected with thepliers alongside either edge of the pliers and having two restrictedopenings therethrough eachof which is so lo- 'cated as to lie adjacentthe jaws of the pliers in one position of the reversible loopcontractingmember, means for pivotally v and detachably connecting the loop-contractlng member with the pliers to swing in a plane parallel with themembers of the pliers, and a spring held to the loop-contracting memberand'adapted to loosely engage one of the plier members in eitherposition of the loop-contracting member;

10. A dental appliance comprising a pair I of lever members providedwith laterally offset jaws at one end, a pivot pin connecting saidmembers intermediate their ends and having projecting end portions, avthird lever member having two'slotted arms extending from opposlte sidesthereof adjacent one end, and a pair of pivot ears on said third memberadapted to embrace the other two members and having open slots toreceive the projecting ends'o'f the pivot pin; 11. A dental appliancecomprising a pair of lever members provided with laterally ofiset jawsat one end, apivot pin connecting saidmembers intermediate their endsand having projecting end portions, a third lever member having twoslotted arms extending from opposite sides thereof adjacent one end, apair ofpivot ears on sand. third member adapted to embrace the other twomembers and having open slots to re ceive the projecting'ends of thepivot pin, and a U-shaped slide shiftable longitudinally on said thirdmember embracing said pivot ears and provided'withopen slots forreceiving the ends of the pivot pin extend ing transversely of the slotsin said ears.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature.

JACOB LOWE YOUNG. 7

